Feel the Rain on Your Skin...

The picture above sums up the 2009 Blue Cross Broad Street Run...well, with the minor exception of me planting my foot in the murky water over and over and over...you get the idea. In reality, I was happy to wake-up to only light drizzle, along with 26,000 of my closest friends.

Rain, anxious runners, and north Philly combined to create a hectic starting area, so I escaped to the side streets to get in a light mile jog to loosen up my legs and get my heart rate up. It perfectly warmed up my body and I didn't feel the chill in the air that I heard so many runners complaining about.

This year's race brought the introduction of starting corrals, in hopes of properly sorting out the participants by pace. Fortunately, I was in the yellow corral (the first behind the elites), but unfortunately, I took my time getting there and ended up toward the back of it. Luckily the race started soon there after and the masses were off and running.

Miles 1-3 were a mix of jumping on/off the sidewalk, avoiding puddles, dodging slow runners, and trying to set a nice early pace. I succeeded for the most part as I didn't trip, splash, or let my pace get over 7:00. With a goal of under 1:10:00 I was hoping to run even splits of around 6:45.

Surprisingly the race saw quite a few supports and spectators cheering us all on our race from North Philly to the Navy Yard. They were great at distracting me from the miles ahead, and made it feel just a little bit drier. I finally saw City Hall (where I high-fived the Governor)through the rain and fog and knew that the easy part was over and that it was time to get a move on.



Lauren was cheering just after mile 6, helped along by a mimosa and another friend. We've now succeeded in seeing each other the past two years, totaling our futility streak of missing each other the two years prior.

For me, the race really begins at this point. Mile 7 to 8 will tell you whether you've got it...or whether your body is going to hate you Monday morning. Throughout the race I was unable to settle into a really comortable rhythm, but then again, I wasn't hurting either. My last couple miles were a tad slow, 6:50s, but I couldn't complain too much. In the future I need to push a little harder, but the fear of having to back off and slow down lingered a little in the back of my mind.

After a few calculations I knew that a decent closing stretch would get me to the finish in under 1:08, having locked up sub 1:10 with consistent miles so far. I did my best to find that closing push and picked off a few people down the stretch to officially hit my pre-race and in-race goal as I crossed in 1:07:56.

I grabbed my finishers medal, a snack bag, and my gear just in time to meet Lauren as the sky opened up. We celebrated the race with a savory Russian Pastrami from a new deli in the city. Nothing like packing on the calories immediately after you burn em!!

Final tallies read: 712 out of 23,202 overall - 91 of 954 in my age group